(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vending machine capable of vending various types of commodities.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
In general, a vending machine for vending commodities such as canned beverage, bottled beverage, pet-bottled beverage and the like comprises a plurality of serpentine type racks as commodity storing means, and comprises a see-saw type vending mechanism as commodity carrying-out means provided at the bottom of each rack.
The commodities are inserted sidewise into an inlet provided on the top end portion of the rack, and are stored in a stacked state in a sidewise position inside a serpentine pathway of the rack. The vending mechanism carries out the commodities at the lowest place within the serpentine pathway of the rack one by one, and the carried out commodities are guided to a vending port through an inclined chute.
The above-described rack and vending mechanism dominate a very high proportion of the manufacture's cost of the vending machine because of the reason that the number of parts constituting them are great, that the assembling work thereof is complicated, that it is necessary to provide the vending mechanism at the bottom of each rack, and the like.
To make profits from the production and distribution of the vending machine under the sluggish economy such as experienced in recent years, it is a must to lower the manufacturing cost of the vending machine itself. However, in the vending machine employing the above-described rack and vending mechanism, since it is difficult to lower the cost more than possible now, a vending machine comprising storing means and carrying-out means as an alternative to the above is eagerly desired.